Heavy Metal Thunder
This was the first year of the Pack 462 Pinewood Derby with our new metal track and it was a raring success! It's somewhat bittersweet to say goodbye to the old wooden one which was filled with legacy and history, but also warped and damaged by years of age and general wear and tear. The new track meant a new scoring system to accomodate 4 lanes, and a lot of prep time from our volunteer sub-committee. Special thanks to Ryan Onopa for leading that effort, Ashley Phillips for running the computer software and cutting most kids cars, Patrick Hutton for serving as weigh-in and repairs master then starting line announcer. Mike Wilson helped get the thing purchased in the first place (which wasn't easy). I chipped in to organize the creative contest voting tally and then they pulled me in to emcee after that. All the new tech made for a smooth event, especially having a microphone to call out the kids names and keep people interested till the end. I certainly enjoyed calling out the kids names like Matt Cord at a Sixers game. There were lots of fun little quirks in the heats, like brother vs. brother, Ezra vs. Ezra, and about 12 duels between Andrew Phillips and Jacob Hutton as they fought for Gold and Silver respectively. The top 5 were rounded out by Jack Davin (Bronze), Alex Hampson, and Owen Montemuro. Then Daniel Wilson got fastest new Scout.
Those kids got to race at the District Derby on April 12th too, and Andrew's "Karakung Rocks" car (which looked exactly like the Kraken's pool) came in 10th in the district at 201.27mph. They score differently and have a longer track so you never know if the speed will translate. Alex Hampson jumped from 4th in our Derby to 11th in theirs. Just behind Andrew at 202.22 mph. Yeah Rainbow Goomba! Jack's Mega Gengar came in 13th, Owen was 16th, and Jacob got 18th. That's out of 60 racers. All of ours were in the top 20!
Even with the 4-lane setup somehow almost every kid managed to get the thrill of victory at least once in the early rounds. The younger kids and their younger siblings were kept occupied by a Lego track courtesy of SNAPology. That was a nice touch, especially if kids were out of the running early. Pastor Tim, Chef Rich and others manned the kitchen and kept us well fed. Sausage sandwiches and pulled pork sandwiches beats the raceday fare at Nascar I bet. Not that I've ever been. For any Scout who had to suffer the sting of defeat we clapped them off in style and hopefully they've learned how to handle that gracefully. With this many participants, it's really hard to get on the podium. Notice it's a lot of the children of parents who've been doing this for years. You'll get better as you go.
The creativity of the cars was also at an all-new level. With a growing pack and growing participation in the derby, the amount of kids getting votes for most creative was extraordinary. 59 cars got votes. 17 cars were in the double-digits (10 votes or more). Eleven kids got over 40 weighted points. In the end, whether I counted total votes, or weighted votes, it didn't matter. The same 5 kids came out on top and in the exact same order. Garrett Kroeger got the Gold medal for creativity (45 votes) with a sleek design featuring 3D-printed dragon scales. Then Gus Johansen (43 votes) had a great version of a video game controller that used the weights as 3D buttons. Somehow it was fast too. Jacob Hutton made this winner's photo too with 39 votes. This time in bronze position for a police car with a built-in sound chip. Jack Archer Garrett (34 votes) had a dragon car complete with big green wings. And Hunter Phillips snow speeder was absolutely gorgeous (24 votes). The Star Wars merchandising team would approve it as a replica and charge mad money for fanboys and girls. I think it deserved more votes but people are starting to get used to just how good they are. Honorable mentions go out to Aaron Lacey, Colin Hatton, Ben Irrizary, Timmy Diiorio, Jude Burnett, Michael Wilson, JP Heine, Levi Edelstein, Marco Mendez, and Cormac Magee.
Of all the events in Cubs, I think I'll miss this annual experience the most. It's a pain to get prepared and make sure your kid actually works on his own car, but it's such a memory in the end. Cherish it.
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